Did stopping bf help with birth tear healing?

[Alixion]

Following a disappointing physio appointment for a 3rd degree tear I'm looking for some advice!

The physio gave good advice : pelvic floor exercises, pelvic floor exercises, pelvic floor exercises! However when I mentioned the problems I've been having (don't want to overshare here!) she said that because I was bf the relaxin would prevent my body from bouncing back and we wouldn't know the full extent of damage until I stopped. The physio was not hinting that I should stop at all but that I should continue to sort out DS before focussing on myself. I left the appt feeling very confused and quite upset

I do realise that the road to recovery is long but if bf is stopping the healing of my birth injuries is it wise to continue?

Has anyone had a similar experience?

I BF til DD was almost a year old & if anything it had the opposite effect - my tearing etc healed quickly & my body snapped back into shape very quickly too - in my case it fell apart when I gave up BFing

No idea what degree of tear I had though I think it was 30 ish stitches, but it was a long time ago & it was external if that's what you mean

I know your vagina won't be as lubricated because of the lack of oestrogen due to breastfeeding which may make it more painful and dry. Oestrogen also helps with tissue healing, but I wouldn't have thought it would have prohibited your body so much that it would 'stop' your healing.

I would speak to someone else about it x

I had a third degree tear and BF for 8 months, I healed really well and have had no ongoing issues.

I put a fair amount of effort into my recovery though, lots of pelvic floor exercises and I took up Pilates which has really helped and also gave me at least an hour a week where I took care of nothing else but helping myself to heal.

There is a women's health physio that posts here some I will try and remember her name, maybe she can give better help.

Gussiegrips.

BF won't prevent your body from healing, but it's just that because of the relaxin your ligaments will be more stretchy and it'll be harder to get the pelvic floor toned up and really working to its optimum. So your tear will heal the same, but your full strength of pelvic floor will be harder to achieve, if that makes sense.

I am a physio (but not womens health). Had a 3rd degree tear with some incontinence issues with DD1 and had 6 months of physio. I breastfed until DD was 15 months. I was symptom few of incontinence issues by 6 months post birth and symptom free of other issues by around 10 months.

I wouldn't say breadtfeeding affected my recovery particularly. The main thing is how often and how well you manage to do the pelvic floor exercises. Make sure you get really good feedback from your physio about how effectively you're doing them. As I said, I'm a physio myself, but I was doing my pelvic floor exercises completely wrong!

Thanks for all the replies - they're really helpful.

I've had two physio appointments - 2 weeks and 4 weeks pp - at the last appointment she said she could just about feel my pelvic floor move but it was very weak. She then discharged me from follow up care saying I should just continue doing the pelvic floor exercises and go to my 6 month consultant appointment. This is not scheduled in until October (actually nearer 8months pp) and I don't want to waste time not doing enough or doing the wrong things.
As I said above, I left the appointment quite upset - I felt that I had been left on my own. I did consider going back and asking for more help but TBH I got a bit embarrassed about it all...
Hearing your experiences makes me think I should call and make another appointment and push for a bit more help.

Yes definitely push for more help, your GP should be able to help you access it. In terms of doing pelvic floor exercises I used to write a p on. Y hand in the morning and then every time I saw it it reminded me to clench!

I had a bad 2nd degree tear to perineum followed by a minor bladder prolapse ( independent if each other, I believe prolapse caused by pg rather than pushing). Anyway ny symptoms were mild urinary stress inontinence and random leaking, and a feeling that everything was falling out down there.

My physio said much the same as yours, and u felt pretty devastated. I still did the exercises religiously and while things did improve a lot, if I'm really honest I didn't feel 100% continent until I stopped breastfeeding (2 years later!)

Unfortunately the same thing has just happened again with DS 2 and I'm not sure j want to wait 2 years again :( I will though because I love breastfeeding my babies and I have learned to accept that I come waaaay down my list of priorities these days (not saying that's the way it should be, it's just the way I have found myself...)

Oh and I was also offered oestrogen cream to helps its dryness and sore scar tissue but I decided against, can't remember my reasons now!